The Outsider
by Celestina Warbeck
Summary: Hullo. This is my first fic ever. It's a l/j fic, and they hate each other (for now, hee hee *wink wink*). Please be nive and read and review. Thank you muchly. Mercy Buckets! Chapter 4 is finally uploaded.
1. The Hogwarts Express

**The Outsider (part one of too many) **

Lily Evans glanced up at the scarlet engine, shining in the September sun. _Well_, she said to herself, _this is it, my fifth year_. She squinted as alight shone into her green eyes, and looked down to see the problem, her new silver prefects badge. 

_Damn it! Why did they hafta make me a prefect? Just because I'm top of my class in everything_ (That isn't quite true, she was mot the best in divination),_ oh damn it! _

She looked over her shoulder, and caught a glimpse of some third year glancing at her long, slender legs. She turned around and glared at him. _Why are guys always looking at me like that?! Can't they see I'm not interested! _

As she shook her, wavy, dark red hair out of her eyes, it was evident (to everyone except herself at least), why it was so common for any member of the male sex to be so attracted to her. 

Lily sighed as she heard the train whistle, and climbed onto the Hogwarts Express. She walked from compartment to compartment, trying to find an empty one, but, as every year, her search was in vain. She sighed once again, and settled on a compartment with a group of giggling Hufflepuff fourth year girls. As usual, the main topic of conversation was the "_dreamy" _James Potter, recently named captain of the Gryffindor house quidditch team. She slumped into a corner, shrugging off their impatient questions about whether or not her bright green eyes were due to contacts. 

There, she proceeded to fall asleep. 

As she drifted off into a deep slumber, a recurring image of a horsy face, framed with strawish blond hair and dull grey eyes kept appearing.Lily sunk into a reminiscent memory of her past 

*****CORNY DREAM SEQUENCE MUSIC***** 

Petunia was always a little boy crazy, and it didn't help her that she happened to be so utterly unattractive. But Lily had never seen a boy that Petunia was as stuck on as Kenneth. He was a year older than Petunia, and very popular with the ladies, well, as popular as you can be at twelve. Lily, at nine, was oblivious to boys at that time, with the exception of Neil, her best and only friend. Petunia used to tease Lily about her "boyfriend", but Lily used to just shrug it off and Petunia often noticed that afterwards, her nose grew slightly longer, or she grew a new wart to add to her collection. Petunia often found herself wondering if her sister was some kind of freak of nature. 

So, as Petunia's crush intensified, Kenneth seemed to ignore her more and more. His attention turned to a red-haired, green-eyed nine-year-old. 

Petunia was oblivious to this, and so, when she invited him over for tea, he quickly accepted after finding out whom the rest of her family were. Petunia rehearsed what to say, so that Kenneth would fall madly in love with her, and threatened to lock Lily in her room if anything out of the ordinary happened. 

The big day arrived, and Petunia put on her ugliest lemon yellow bellbottoms (remember that this is the sixties/seventies, I haven't exactly decided yet, hee hee I'll have loads of fun with this) and white go-go boots. Lily secretly felt sorry for her, but didn't say anything. 

When Kenneth arrived, everything was in order. They had tea, while Petunia droned on and on about her unordinary fetish for drills. Poor Kenneth was bored out of his mind, until Lily came down to take away the dishes (she was offered a half-pence from Petunia). Kenneth's eyes lit up, so when Petunia went into the bathroom to re-apply her already caked on makeup, he decided to make his move. 

"Hey baby, come sit over here", he said in his machoest voice as he pointed at his lap, "and you can give old Kenny a kissy-wissy." 

Lily gasped, and yelled out all the cuss words she could think of, and a few that she made up (I'll let you use your imagination). Then she kicked him in the shin and ran out of the room. 

Kenneth wondered to himself how any woman, and a younger one at that, could ever resist his charms. He shrugged, and walked to the door. As he put on his purple velvet platforms (too fun, too fun. Hee hee hee), a big hiccup echoed out of his oversized mouth, and they continued as he ran, as fast as his four inch high shoes would carry him, away from that blasted house. 

When Petunia went to school the next day and approached her love, Kenneth gave a high-pitched scream and continued to hiccup uncontrollably. 

As time past, Kenneth lost his popularity. What girl would kiss a guy who was constantly hiccupping (he was deathly afraid of Petunia now)? 

Petunia was livid. 

The sisters' relationship went from bad to worse. Petunia refused to talk to Lily, and that fateful day two years later, when an owl first swooped through their kitchen window, Petunia's worst fears about the "freak" were confirmed. 

*****END OF DREAM SEQUENCE***** 

***CORNY FOGGYNESS SLIGHTLY RESEMBLING A SOAP OPERA FADES AWAY *** 

When the train lurched, Lily woke up with a start. _Woo hoo_, she said to herself with sarcasm, _I can finally leave these useless Hufflepuff pricks, and hang out with all the cool Gryffindors for yet again, another fantastic year_. Lily wouldn't admit it to herself, but she really was quite excited to be back at home in Gryffindor Tower. 

As she stepped out of the compartment, she was shoved against the wall, and slid to the floor. 

After a second, she opened her left eye a slit, and seeing who was standing over her, quickly tried to close it again. "What is it now Potter? Are you and your immature little friends planning to get detention again?" 

"Look Lily, I'm sorry. Sirius, that little git, stole my broomstick, and I'm trying to get it back. How dare I bump into your majesty!" 

Lily's eyes softened with pain at this statement, almost displaying her real feelings. Contrary to popular belief, she really didn't enjoy being such a bitch. Especially in the opinion of someone as cute as James. "I'm having a hard day, okay." 

"Yeah, that I can see. Here, I'll help you up." _She is kinda cute when she lets herself be_, he thought to himself. _If she wasn't such a bitch most of the time, I might be interested in her. _

_ _

Lily suddenly realized whom she was talking to, and her eyes hardened again. "I'm fine. Unlike just about every other girl in this school, you can't wrap me around my little finger." _ _

_ _

__James shrugged as she walked away, staring at her retreating figure. _What a waste of a good thing,_ he thought to himself as he climbed off the train, ready for another year. 

The end (of part one). 

Woo hoo hoo. I'm finally done that mess. So, please review, if you are a nice person, but if you don't, I might forgive you, because I never review either. This is my first fanfic by the way, so be nice. I'm sorry Lily is such a bitch, but she will change. I've got big plans for that girl. Hee hee hee. 

Alrighty, disclaimer. I own nothing, you can have it, but you'd hafta ask the supreme ruler of the universe, J. K. Rowling about that. 


	2. Broomsticks and Other Assorted Objects

Hey hey hey everybody! It's me, and this is my second fic. Woohoo! Alrighty, I'm doing my best and thanks muchly for your reviews. I took kinda a while to write this one because I had this major English project due (35 pages, thanks for asking). Yeah, I wrote this while driving back from Ottawa, so it's kinda messed up. Hee hee I went to a hockey game and the Sens won yay! Sorry all you non-Canuck-obsessed-with-hockey-people, I kinda went overboard, and sorry all you Flyers fans because they lost. Muh ha ha ha. Mmm hmm, here I go.....

**The Outsider - Part Deux**

As Lily stepped out of the carriage, she saw a wide back and tangled black hair and beard. "Hey Hagrid!" she called, but then she realized that he was busy with the first years. _Well_, she said to herself, _that's okay, I'll visit him after class tomorrow._

She walked into the Great Hall, crabby because of the other students pushing and shoving from behind, anxious to get to the feast after a long train ride. A young woman, maybe ten or fifteen years older than Lily, was trying to restore order. As Lily approached, she called her name. "Will Lily Evans and Peter Pettigrew please follow me to my office". The woman tightened her stiff black bun and motioned for them to follow. 

When they sat down in her office, she introduced herself. "I am Professor McGonagall, the new Transfiguration teacher ---"

"What happened to Dumbledore?" Lily interrupted. 

McGonagall glared over her spectacles "That", she replied, "is for you to find out later at the feast".

"Oh, sorry professor."

"As I was trying to say, I am a new teacher, and have been given the responsibility of helping students in my house. Yes, Miss Evans, I am also the new head of Gryffindor house. Mr. Pettigrew, I have been informed that you have been having difficulty with your studies. Therefore, Miss Evans will be tutoring you for the rest of the school year, or however long it might take you to improve your marks. You may go now Peter."

"Miss Evans", she continued, "I hope that this tutoring will help you to, er, learn to be more helpful towards your fellow Gryffindors. I have been also told that you are", she paused to think, "less than courteous to others. You may join the others for the feast now."

As Lily walked out she saw something not unlike understanding in McGonagall's eyes for a second. Then her mind turned to more important matters, like why Dumbledore wasn't the transfiguration teacher anymore. _Damnit_, she thought to herself, _he was my favourite teacher. And that new teacher, was she about to call me a bitch?_

Sighing, she took the last available seat at the Gryffindor table, unfortunately next to Sirius Black. Noticing that she had missed the sorting, she looked up to the head table as Dumbledore stood up. Relieved to see that he was still at the school, she listened to what he was saying.

"As many of you may have noticed, Professor Dippet is no longer with us. He decided to go into early retirement after that unfortunate explosion in Filch's office last year." Lily saw Sirius shake silently with laughter beside her. "As I was saying, I have consented to take the position of Headmaster, and our new teacher, Professor McGonagall, will be fulfilling my duties as transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor house. I hope that you will all welcome her and treat her as you have treated me." A few Slytherins snickered. "And now, let's eat."

While Sirius stuffed his face with pumpkin juice, mashed potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding beside her, Lily stared at her food and absent-mindedly pushed around her plate with her fork.

_Did I remember to do all my Potions homework over the hols?_, she asked herself. Then her attention turned to more pressing matters. _How the hell will I tutor that git and sneak out to visit Hagrid and go flying? Damn that new teacher!_

After only crumbs were left on the golden patters, Dumbledore stood up again. "I have one more announcement to make before our prefects lead you up to your dormitories. We will be holding a ball this year for those of you in the fourth year and up on Halloween. It will be a masquerade ball, and you are welcome to dress up so that your identity is unknown. I suggest that each one of you start thinking about your costumes. Good night."

Lily and the other prefects led the the others up to Gryffindor tower. They said the new password ("horkniffers") and stumbled up to their dormitories. Lily, not relishing the idea of listening to Elyse, Pandora, Meg, and Atalanta gossip about boys, especially with the ball approaching.

She collapsed in a comfy armchair near the fire, and mentally reviewed the textbooks she had read during the summer. Assured that she was prepared to tomorrow, she trudged upstairs and fell asleep on her bed, still fully clothed in her school robes.

***

After a rather uneventful day of Double Herbology, Arithmancy, and History of magic, Lily checked to see that no one had booked the quidditch pitch and grabbed her broom. The sky was overcast, and there was a slight wind from the southeast--perfect for flying. As Lily climbed onto her broomstick, memories of her first ride came back to her.

***

It was the second week of her first year. Madame Palma, the flying and quidditch teacher, had neatly laid out the school's brooms in two rows. Lily, standing behind James Potter, heard him mentioning how he had been flying since he was three ("not one of those toy ones either"). Most of the other students, in particular her fellow muggle-borns, were silently shaking, and Elyse Laframboise was wailing. 

However, Lily felt strangely calm. Madame Palma's whistle blew, and most of the Gryffindors rose, though some very jerkily. Some, however, were yelling at their stationary brooms, and Elyse was being carried away by Hagrid, kicking and screaming. Lily was among the successful young wizards, and rose higher than the others, performing a few perfectly executed loop-de-loops. She sprinted 20 metres back and forth with the wind whistling in her ears, so that she did not hear the second whistle, signalling for everyone to lower to the ground. 

She continued her acrobatic routine until she noticed the gasps coming from the other children's mouths and the glare from James. She swiftly landed near Palma, apologizing profusely. Palma, however, congratulated Lily on her performance as lily felt her cheeks slowly turning to a bright shade of magenta.

As embarrassed as she was, Lily could not ignore the feeling of freedom that flying had given her. But there was no way that she would **ever **make a spectacle of herself like that again. _No_, she thought, _I must never let anyone know how I feel when I fly. I don't know how that James Potter and his little clique can always be at the centre of attention._

Although no one could ever know, Lily snuck out to fly in her first, second, third, and fourth years. She even bought her own broomstick on her first trip to Hogsmeade. She never tried out for the quidditch team for fear of being too noticeable. 

***

As the sky darkened, Lily continued to fly. By now, in her fifth year, she had gotten pretty good, and _while not as good as precious little James Potter,_ she said to herself bitterly, _I **have** improved_.

***

Back in Gryffindor tower, James himself was planning yet another dungbomb attack on Filch's office with his friends Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Glancing out the window, he noticed a lone figure zooming across the quidditch pitch. As the newly appointed quidditch captain, James was always on the lookout for new talented prospects. Hoping that the flyer was a Gryffindor, he silently excused himself, grabbed his cloak and headed outside.

***

Meanwhile, Lily was feeling very thankful that quidditch practices hadn't started yet so no one would stumble upon her flying practice. _I don't know why but flying is just my thing. I feel like I can express myself. I'm not afraid of what people will think of me when I fly by myself._ She sighed, s_ometimes I just feel like I hide myself in my schoolwork, I'm kinda a workaholic. Flying is so natural to me_. Lost in her thoughts, Lily didn't notice a cloaked figure approaching the pitch, gasping in awe at the identity of the flyer above him...

Well, there it is my friends, I have tried once again with a cliff-hanger. Sigh. yes, Elyse's last name does mean "the raspberry", and since that was my great-great-grandmother's maiden, name please don't laugh. Hmm, yes, I would like some reviews if you please, if you do I will keep writing. Ack, my pinkie is really sore so I will stop typing now. Byeee!


	3. Discovered!

Well, hullo there. It's me again and this is my third fic. Hmm, okee dokee, please inform me if something doesn't make sense, I have the memory of a fruit fly (I highly doubt that that is an actual saying, but as a fruit fly lives for a day, and my memory sucks...). Yeah, and I do believe that I forgot to put in a disclaimer last time, but no one complained, thanks, I was very worried. Yeah, so, nothing is mine, it is all JKR's. Oh, and please don't ask about the mythological names (actually today I chose a Shakespearean name), I just wanted something interesting, and I had to steal it 'cause I'm not creative in the slightest.

I'm terribly sorry that this took forever and a day, but I actually had most of it written since the beginning of December, but I've suffered from writers block and bad self-confidence, and I actually wrote the ending four different times. Sorry, well, without further ado...

**The Outsider: Chapter Three**

"Hey there Lily!"

Lily looked down to see James Potter standing below her and almost fell off her broom. 

James laughed. "I should have known. Little Miss Perfect practising for her own one woman quidditch team. Too good for us Gryffindors, eh Evans? If you didn't happen to be you, I might ask you to try out this year, but we want to beat the other team, not each other."

Lily frowned and landed perfectly beside him as he continued. "Still, I am pretty desperate. What do ya say?"

"Oh, I'd l-uhh-ve to, dahling James, but do to the unfortunate fact that you're the captain, I'm afraid I can't."

"Ooh, is little lady Lily scared to finally be beaten at something? I thought you had more guts than that, but as you're a girl--"

"Fine then, I will. I'm glad to see that you are willing to put your position as the *star* captain in jeopardy. I will see you next Wednesday."

_Hmm, very interesting_, James said to himself amusedly, _she already knew the day of the tryouts and I didn't even have to tell her. Maybe we'll have a chance at the quidditch cup this year_.

As Lily stormed off, she forgot about her planned visit to Hagrid. She climbed up to Gryffindor tower, hoping to sit down with a good book in the common room. 

But her plans were not to happen. As soon as the Fat Lady's portrait swung open, she was met by a whimpering Peter.

"L-l-lily", he stammered, "can we start the tutoring now?"

"Fine", she sighed, "let's sit down and start."

They settled down, but as Lily opened Peter's Charms textbook, Sirius Black bounced into the room, nearly stepping on Lily's big toe. As she scowled, he said, "Hey there hot stuff, and you too, Wormtail old boy. Betcha each two galleons that Snape will have fuchsia hair at breakfast tomorrow." He laughed evilly, then bounded away to harass another group of innocent workers.

***

It was a good thing that they had not bet him, because Severus Snape, a greasy fifth year, **did **have fuchsia hair the next morning. And, as always, he was livid. Snape stamped up to the Gryffindor table and started yelling at the usual suspects, though feebly in comparison to Sirius' booming laugh, James' charming chuckle (quite a few of the young women turned to look at him adoringly), and Remus' snickering. Peter just looked down at his twitching hands, annoyed that he'd not been included in this prank.

*** 

Classes that week remained uneventful, if you don't count Lily demonstrating her perfect acroama (singing) charm in front of the entire class and Severus' now matching fuchsia face whenever he passed a group of students. Anyways, Lily, so proud with her success in her favourite class, began to be a tad careless in her giddiness. Several younger students were known to have arrived late for class, singing such muggle favorites as "Dancing Queen", "Respect", and "Build me up Buttercup".

The quidditch tryouts approached, and Lily was beginning to become regretful of her promise to James. But not being one to give up, when she arrived at the quidditch pitch Wednesday evening, she had the aura (A/N always wanted to use that word) of someone who was very self-confident.

She had had several internal debates throughout the past week on what position to play, and although she knew that James was also one, she decided to become a Chaser.

When James looked with despair at the quidditch hopefuls, he began to regret his thoughts that Gryffindor would finally win the cup once again. _There is some promise in that Lysander Quayle, but I don't know if he can work with Padfoot as a beater_. James sighed. His worst fears had been confirmed. Lily Evans was one of the few good enough for the team. _As if I don't see her enough in class_.

Lily felt the wind rush through her hair and **almost **forgot that half of the Gryffindors were watching her. Suddenly aware of a certain quidditch captain below her, Lily suddenly braked and gracefully floated to the ground. She sighed. _Why am I doing this? I should have just ignored him. Damnit! _Climbing off her broom, she walked over to where James was standing.

"Alright James, I really don't know why I'm telling you this, but, I don't know what I'm doing here. Okay, okay, I don't have the guts to try out. I really don't want to be here, and I know you don't want me on the team. So bye."

"Wait Lily."

"What?"

"Well, damnit, you probably realize that it is very difficult for me to say this, but I honestly think that you should stay and try out. You know that I would never complement you on your flying unless I really meant it, and well, you have got to be one of the best flyers here right now."

"Okay, right. you have got to be kidding."

"Honestly Lily, you have no self confidence. YOU'RE THE BEST DAMN FLYER HERE! Get it, got it, good. Now, please act your age and just believe me."

Lily laughed, and then stifled her giggles. "Well, that it kinda funny, coming from you. Fine, but if I'm so good can't I just go now, please?"

"Fine, but I'll see you at practice on Saturday." James resisted the urge to groan.

"Right, okay, see you then. Bye!" Lily gave a little wave.

James slowly turned around and walked back to where a couple of second years trying to escape from a particularly violent bludger. He ignored their cries of thanks as he grabbed it with one hand and effortlessly threw it back into the crate with the other quidditch balls. 

As fat raindrops started to drop from the sky, James called for everyone to go back inside. He dragged his feet up to the Common Room and collapsed in a lonely armchair away from the fire where Sirius was filling in Peter and Remus on the events of the tryout.

*****

That's the end for now, and I honestly promise that I will try to get the next installment out as soon as possible. I'm gonna try and make it longer too. Thanks for reading, and do you see that little box right under this paragraph? Yes? Good. Please review. I hope you know how, but, if you don't, you can email me at [smiles_n_chuckles99@yahoo.com][1] for instructions. Please also email me if you have any wonderful ideas, or of course you can just write them in with your review. I'll love you forever!

   [1]: mailto:smiles_n_chuckles99@yahoo.com



	4. She's Got Radioactive Blood

The Outsider

Sorry for being SO long, please read my longer author's note at the bottom. Meaning of the chapter title? Je ne sais pas (I don't know). I just had the Spiderman theme song going through my head one day.

**The Outsider: Chapter 4**

****She's Got Radioactive Blood 

For the first Hogsmeade weekend of the term, things were rather normal, or at least as normal as life could be at Hogwarts. Lily Evans, prefect, top of the fifth year class, was, as normal, alone in her dormitory, debating with herself about whether or not to actually go to Hogsmeade. After much internal bickering, she decided to bite the bullet and go. 

After a brief broomstick ride, Lily leaned her broomstick on the broomstick rack outside Honeydukes (Makers of Original Magical Candies Since 12 AD). She entered the loud shop, the favourite of many Hogwarts students, including Peter Pettigrew. Opting to look at the "Psychedelic Sweets" first, she picked up a rather odd looking lollipop, labeled "Vinolentus Suckers". Lily decided to try the candy, admitting that she really needed something to pick up her mood as a seventh year bumped into her, nearly knocking her over.

As Lily placed the fuscia and magenta swirled lolly on the counter ("Two knuts please"), the man smiled, and gave Lily a knowing wink. "Yes, we have to be careful that the authorities don't find out that we're making these. The secret ingredient, as you'll soon find out, is very popular with young people."

Lily gave a small, bemused nod, and left the shop, increasing her pace as she neared the door. She finally stopped her frantic amble, and stopped at a park bench, nearly one and a half blocks from the busy candy store. Relieved to be alone, and with her head throbbing, Lily quickly sat down and sighed. People were acting slightly odd lately, now that she thought of it. _Yes, like that Amos Diggory, suddenly deciding to grow a beard, for a seventeen year-old he looked oddly reminiscent of the nearly hundred-and-twenty year old Dumbledore! _Sigh again. _Well, what can I say, I go to Hogwarts, arguably the strangest school in all the British Isles._

But, aside from her complaints, Lily furiously loved her school. Every quidditch match (well, before she made the team) she could be found in the stands, mind you only if you looked hard enough because she always watched at the back, wearing a ridiculous outfit that reminded some of a rain slick. Now, this was a girl who secretly bought the Hogwarts t-shirts in every shade of the rainbow (they were enchanted) when they carried the short lived Hogwarts clothing line in Madam Malkins.

Back on track, Lily pulled the lollipop out of the paper bag and stared at it. _Hmm, that guy was not right in the head, should I eat this? Hee hee, or maybe I should feed it to someone's owl. Hmm, no, bad idea. ah, what the hell, I better just eat it before it melts in my hand. _So Lily carefully pulled off the wrapper and examined the sucker. Finally deciding that it looked edible, she summoned up her courage and took a lick.

To Lily's surprise, it didn't really taste much like anything. A little disappointed, she looked at it strangely until a strange noise could be heard over the trees in Hogsmeade Park. She quickly wrapped up the rest of her lolly in the wrapper and placed it carefully in her pocket.

The source of the noise was soon apparent. Whooping as they ran through the trees, the four most infamous boys in the school, led by Sirius Black, came into view. Lily had no idea what they were doing, nor did she care. Silently, she slipped behind the bench, not consciously aware that she was eavesdropping.

"I say we give it up altogether. It will never work." Remus Lupin was always the voice of reason, and a little dull in Lily opinion, although it wasn't really in her place to say.

"Oh, go stuff yourself. Muggles really aren't as useless as they act." Lily felt herself steam inwardly at Sirius' words as he continued, "You see, there's this guy I saw on a visiontelly or something at my aunt's house. You remember her James? Yeah, the Squib one who married a Muggle. Anyhoo, Muggles have these things that show people in some kind of box. I suppose they think it's entertainment. So like I was saying, there was this guy, his name was James, yeah like yours, Blond or something. And it was amazing, all this guy did was kill some sort of bad guys, and he always had all these chicks. He is some sort of god. So what I'm saying is, we have to go and find him. He is my idol. 

"This is my plan," Sirius continued, "we all come to my house at Christmas holiday, and try to find this guy. I've got to know his secret, if we find it we'll be sex gods or something. Woohoo!"

"Oh God. Not another one of your harebrained schemes," Peter sighed. "My toenails better not disappear this time."

"Peter dearie, of course they won't --"

"Don't you be calling me dearie, it's odd." Peter looked at Sirius with a disgusted expression on his face.

"Well, as I was trying to say, this plan can't go wrong!" 

"Hey Sirius, I think I know who you're talking about. Wait no, maybe not. Yeah, well whatever you are talking about, it sounds really dangerous." Remus added.

Now, by this time, poor Lily had had enough. She let out a loud snort, and then attempted to cover it up with her palm. Realizing that she had indeed been eavesdropping, she slowly tried to crawl away under a bush.

Unfortunately, James, who had developed very acute hearing from being a lookout for the past five years while following Sirius on his prank sprees, heard Lily's snort and became ever more suspicious after hearing several twigs snap. Motioning for his friends to be quiet, he tiptoed over to Lily's bush, and knowingly parted the branches. Suddenly, the four Marauders heard a shrill scream, followed by a burst of high pitched giggles.

Underneath the bush, with twigs and an assortment of leaves caught in her dark red hair was Miss Lily Evans, giggling madly while clutching her gut. All four young men stared at her wearing identical looks of disbelief on their faces.

It looked as if she was trying to speak, but all they could hear were a few forced out words. "You ... stupid ... Bond ... freaks ... hee hee ... nutters ... hairy ... hee hee ... chest ... Scotland ... HA!"

And with a final loud laugh, her face contorted with a look of pain and she proceeded to *ahem* toss her cookies all over the woodland floor and, unfortunately, on James Potter's new brown loafers.

"Hmm, veery eenteresting," Sirius put on his falsetto mad scientist voice. "Zee leetle girl seems to have ee bit of ee stoomach proobleem." With that, he picked up a stick and swirled around the strangely magenta-coloured *ahem*chunky liquid with it.

Remus, always the observant and sensitive one, said, "Yes, well thanks for the, erm, observation Sirius, but Lily over here needs some help." He addressed the girl, who was groaning and rocking back and forth on her heals. "Lily, do you need to go into a washroom?"

She weakly nodded as the three boys (Peter had left right away after a glance at her barf) gently lead her to the Three Broomsticks, the closest establishment containing a washroom. While Remus held the door open, James and Sirius supported Lily as they walked into the restaurant. 

Sirius continued with his fake voice as they made their way to the washroom. "Eet's okay leetle ladee, Ooncle Seereeus ees heer --"

He was cut off when James and Remus simultaneously yelled, "SHUT UP SIRIUS!"

The odd looking group encountered a problem once they got to the women's washroom. James spoke up for the first time since they had found Lily. "Erm, Lily, are you gonna be okay to go in by yourself?" To his horror, she feebly shook her head. "Alright guys, who is gonna go in with her?"

Sirius shook his head. "I'm a regular in there, and Madam Rosmerta said last week that if she catches me in the women's washroom again, I can't come into the Three Broomsticks ever again."

Remus looked embarrassed. "Sorry James, but I just can't do it. You're gonna have to."

James took a deep breath and resigned himself to his dreadful fate. "Alright, fine. But you guys stay out here and try to keep anyone from entering. Just stall them, okay?"

And with that, he slowly pushed open the door glanced around for anyone else in the washroom. Relieved, he noticed that it was empty. Carefully picking up Lily, who had collapsed on the floor, he walked in.

James' first reaction was surprise. He had expected coloured fountains and fancy tiles like the Prefects Bathroom at Hogwarts, but instead it looked almost identical to the men's washroom in the Three Broomsticks (with a certain exception). As he carried Lily over to the closest stall, the mirror over the sinks called out to him in a Southern (American) drawl, "Hey you! You're not suppose to be in here!" The mirror's attention then turned to Lily. "Eww, what's wrong with her?"

James ignored the mirror, and hoisted Lily down. "Umm, do you feel better now?" he asked awkwardly, slightly embarrassed at their surroundings.

Lily began to nod, but then began to throw up again, this time into the toilet. James looked concerned, "It's okay, it's okay. I'm here. You're going to feel better. It's okay." He began to soothingly rub her back in small circles, and continued to comfort her.

Once she was finished, Lily sat down on the cold tile and leaned her head back against the stall door. Blinking, she suddenly realized who she was with. "James," she said hoarsely, "what are you doing here in this--" she paused as she looked around and took in her surroundings, "washroom?"

Uncomfortable with Lily's unwavering gaze at him, James looked down at his hands. "Well, uh, we were in the park, and you were under a bush or something. Then you started to," he gulped, "you know, hurl, and you kinda collapsed. Me, Sirius, and Remus brought you here." 

"Hmm, then where are they now? Why are you here anyway? I -- I don't want to sound rude, but, well, we aren't exactly the best of friends. Hey, why are you here in the **ladies** washroom?" a note of panic crept into Lily's voice. "I mean, we **are** in the ladies washroom, right?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I forgot to tell you --"

"Oh, shut up Potter. Okay, I won't ask. So, what did possessed **you** to come in here with **me**? You never answered my question." Lily grinned mischievously.

Uneasily, James picked at some dirt stuck between the tiles of the stall floor. "Like I already told you, you were a little bit out of it and Sirius and Remus couldn't come in, so I had to."

"So, then Sir James Potter, why don't you leave this poor little damsel in distress and get back to your friends, hmm? I'm sure they're waiting for you." A trace of bitterness was apparent in Lily's voice. "I mean, who, let alone the most **popular** young bachelor in all of Hogwarts, would want to stay with Little Miss Surly Evans."

"Oh, it is my gentlemanly duty of course. To save all ladies in peril from the presence of evil. Yes, and how could I forget, there is always the possibility of shag upon the way, yes?"

"Ah shit. Now I'm really going to be sick." And she was.

Wiping her mouth with her now dusty sleeve, Lily continued, "If I had enough energy you would currently be subject to the single most painful bitch slap that your **adorable** little dimpled cheek has ever experienced. I'll hafta give you a rain check, hun."

"I hope you won't take offense if I happen to burn that rain check. What did you eat anyway?" James asked as he gazed at his sullied shoe.

"Oh just a little lolly I picked up at Honeydukes." She took the wrapper out of her jacket. "I dunno what it is exactly. Must be some kind of new product or something. You can have it if you want, here I'll just do a simplesanitation charm."

She did, and handed it to him. Cautiously, James took the sticky lollipop and held it up into the light to examine it. He slowly held it up to his nose and took a little sniff. "Hmm, it seems to be okay. Looks like it meets Ministry recommendations for foreign foodstuffs ... my Dad is a Ministry bigwig. Okay, I think I'll have a taste." Lily giggled as he nervously brought the lolly in question up to his mouth and licked it as his tongue flicked out of his mouth.

"Hmm, it tastes alright to me. Wait, no. Oh shit. Lily, do you know what this is?"

"No, I was bored so I looked at candy in Honeydukes. This particular lollipop looked interesting, so I bought it."

"Do you, by any chance, happen to remember what it is called?"

"Umm, let me see. Violent-is or something. I just don't remember."

"Oh damnit. It must have been 'Vinolentus'. Shit, Lily, you're a witch, can't you read latin? Do you know what that means?"

"No, I don't." Anger began to creep up into Lily's voice. "I'm just a muggle-born witch!"

"Well, that hasn't stopped you before." James' tone turned deadly serious. "Lily, you are a brilliant witch. Judging by the 'Vinolentus' label, you have probably just consumed a large amount of alcohol. Honestly Lily, how could you not have known that? You are at the top of the class and --"

"Bullshit! I just work my friggin' ass off! Do you think that it's easy being a minority, everyone hating you because you're different? Yeah, I see you and your three **pureblood** buddies, Remus, Sirius, and Peter. Have you not noticed the segregation that goes on in our school, let alone in all wizarding society? Because it's there. It is. I have had to live through it every day of my whole damn life here at Hogwarts. And what are you doing? Nothing. You and your pureblood clique are off having a good time, while the rest of us **mudbloods** are off to fend for ourselves." Lily was so mad that she began to spit out her words. "There are three, yes three, muggleborn witches and wizards in our year. Abbelona Glockenspiel in Ravenclaw, Nigel Reynolds in Hufflepuff, and me." Now she was so mad that she didn't notice her bad grammar. "It is not easy. No one gives a shit about us. 

"Well, I mean, Dumbledore is nice about it. Every week he calls me to his office and asks if I'm having any problems. He knows that everyone hates me. I don't mean to be a bitch. Everything has just been so difficult since I got into Hogwarts. I almost wish that I had never received that owl four years ago. You know, I just have to keep up my guard. Not let anyone know my pain. I hate it."

During her long spiel, James had tried to get in a few argumentative words in to challenge her negative view of wizarding society. Now, however, he only had words of comfort. "Lily, I honestly never knew this. Is it really that bad? I just assumed you were a bitch by nature. I - I - I'm sorry."

Lily unconsciously felt a large tear well up in her eye and slowly begin its voyage down her left cheek.

James continued. "I always figured that I was a good person. Everyone seems to like me, I suppose. I don't know, I was just brought up to be chivalrous to others; when I was little my parents raised me to always say please and thank you. You know, at parties I always had to say 'Thank you for inviting me' and all that crap. So, what I'm saying is that I just always help people who need it. I never really realized how cliquish and discriminatory I had become. Will you forgive me?"

Wiping away the tears with clenched fists, Lily answered him, "God, James, do you honestly think that a few well-chosen words would heal the hurt that I have lived through? Because they don't. And, while I suppose that in a way I do forgive you, this does not change anything between us. To tell you the truth, I am thoroughly embarrassed that I told you so much about how I feel. Sure, maybe we have some understanding, but that doesn't mean shit. Thank you for your help, I will see you in class."

Lily then proceeded to push herself up with the assistance of the toilet seat and marched out of the washroom, ignoring the inquiries of the nosy mirror. As James watched her leave, he doubted her announcement that nothing had changed between them. During her tipsy walk out of the room, he thought that he had seen the faint glimmer of a grin as she turned to leave.

"Oh shit. How the hell do I get out of here now?!"

*****

Well, our dear James appears to be in quite the predicament now, doesn't he? That was a fun but difficult chapter to write, so I'm dreadfully sorry for the wait. I really am. I just single-handedly broke about 63 of the unspoken rules of fanfiction. You can flame me if you want. I kind of really want a flame. Oh and if you do flame me, please, in the proper tradition of flamers worldwide, misspell and have poor grammar. Please ignore everything I may have said before about being nice. Now I am up to some constructive criticism and flames. YAY!

Now, thank you all my wonderful reviewers. You kick some serious bum. (Yes, and I was going to put in that terrible Sirius/serious joke in but decided against it.) 

One other thing - if anyone is interested in beta-reading for me, please email. While this means that it will take even longer to get this out, it will help immensely. Thank you very much. Please email me at [smiles_n_chuckles99@yahoo.com][1] if you are interested.

Oh, and I should probably let you know where I got the whole washroom idea from. Well, my English teacher last semester told the class about how her brother and his wife got together. On their first date they were at a restaurant and he began to throw up. Apparently she stayed with his in the washroom the entire time and helped him to feel better. After that he knew that she was going to be the woman that he would marry. Aww. The hopeless romantic that I am absolutely thinks that that is so sweet. *sigh*. Also I was home from school with a stomach flu when I began to write this chapter.

Thank you all and enjoy your lives! 

More about Sirius and Remus in the next one I believe!

   [1]: mailto:smiles_n_chuckles99@yahoo.com



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